A mix of English and Tamil, -
Random thoughts on anything and everything, prosaic and otherwise

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

True feminism

To me, it is when I don't have to worry if a leader is male or female, when being a female doesn't help or hinder what I want to be and where I want to go.

There are folks out there who think a woman's role is in the house. I did meet one dork like that, who insisted that his future wife would stay at home and he would deal with all outside matter. It is a different story that the wife he eventually married didn't think the same and the joke was on him. Then there are folks who think a woman should take over, irrespective of whether she has the ability, just by the virtue of being one.

When a person is not afraid to point at another's faults, without having to worry about being targeted by 'feminists'.

When a baby is born, and the first question people ask is how is he/she doing, not what gender.

When there are no more ads that promote fairness to be a stepping stone to success.

When having a female boss is not a big deal.

When a woman reaching the top is not a big news item.

And a personal favorite, slightly on the flippant side - when the woman of the house is no longer expected to cook.

I like this definition! I have one that never fails to amuse me..some of my guy friends that say "I always 'treat' my wife as my equal"- and somewhere at the back of my mind I go- its NOT for YOU to treat her so, she IS so!

I'd definitely like everyone to have the opportunities to develop themselves to the best of their abilities. Unfortunately we still have a long way to go. Women haven't had the sort of support that men have to further their careers (outside the home). Hopefully it will change.

I see where you're going with this feminism being a woman but I fail to understand what are you trying to solve.

"There are folks out there who think a woman's role is in the house."

-- this of course has economic reasons the way it's turned out. There is no reason to believe that men were breadwinners because they were any good at it -- but, simply have been that way because getting them to help around the house would have been worse. At least, division of labour has traditionally worked that way.

"When there are no more ads that promote fairness to be a stepping stone to success."

-- Yes, to be fair to all, they also introduced "Fair and Handsome" for the males. Some just fail to get the point.

"When a woman reaching the top is not a big news item."

-- Replace "woman" with a person from a society which has been deprived and tell me if you'd still feel the same.

"...when the woman of the house is no longer expected to cook."

-- I think this still points to what I said earlier 'bout division of labour.

I also believe decisions made on empathy never seem to work -- for instance, when one really wants to whack the guy who acts smart with her kid sister. But, that isn't right.

lilendian, I am not a traditional feminist in case you haven't gathered that here.

- a woman shouldn't be assumed to take charge of house stuff. division of labor is practical, but it should be a matter of who does what best, rather than, oh you are a woman, so take care of the kitchen stuff. For example, we visited the new temple in the town we used to live. The guy who was kind of the be-it-all there, welcomed us, then promptly suggested(?) that I go and help the women in the kitchen. This automatic assumption is what irks me.

- a woman reaching the top should be treated the same way as a man reaching the top. I hope you get the difference here.

Haha -- What / who is a "traditional feminist"? Do you mean the one who wears a silk saree with a stop signal on the forehead, blows smoke into the air, uses abusive language as a birth right, talks about Umberto eco's works and thinks the rest of us are at least morons?